Senglea 0
Birkirkara 2
Senglea: GB Perger, D. Micallef, F. Salvati, B. Volpini, B. Gonzalez, Z. Cassar, M. Garcia, A. Caseres, K. Cutajar, L. Mallia (R. Vella 90), A. White
Birkirkara: K. Naumovski, D. Chapoval, M. Guillaumier (M. Beerman 77), M. Andelkovic, P. Fenech (J. Sciberras 90), J. Grech (T. Agius 77), K. Zammit, E. Ferreira, M. Mifsud, C. Attard, M. Franca
Referee: Ishmael Barbara
Asst. Refs: Edward Spiteri, Duncan Spencer
4th official: Mario Apap
Scorers: C. Attard 13, J. Grech 48
Player of the match: Jake Grech (Birkirkara)
TMI Top 3: 1. J. Grech; 2. G. Perger, 3. C. Attard
Birkirkara moved into 5th place in the standings yesterday as they beat bottom placed Senglea comfortably.
Goals from Cain Attard in the first half and Jake Grech in the second, proved to be enough to make sure of the three points at stake for their side.
They now have 24 points, one behind 4th placed Sliema. But Balzan and Hamrun can overtake them once again this evening as they play against Hibernians and Valletta respectively.
As for Senglea, it was another nail in the coffin as they suffered their 11th defeat which keeps them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Birkirkara dominated from start to finish but they missed numerous occasions. At the end of the first 45 minutes, they had only one goal to show, and that was not enough assurance for the three points.
Senglea were never expected to be on a par with their opponents, but inspired by some good goalkeeping by Perger, they managed to keep the Stripes at bay except when the Stripes scored their goals.
The match kept the same pattern in the second half with Birkirkara completely in command, scoring an early goal which made the three points safe for them.
Apart from a few Senglea counter-attacks, the match was mostly one-sided with the Stripes again missing a good number of chances.
Birkirkara went out in search of an early goal and on 4 minutes an Andelkovic shot was deviated to corner by a defender.
Three minutes later, from a Kurt Zammit cross, a shot by Paul Fenech went wide.
On 11 minutes, Franca called Senglea goalie Perger into action, but the latter turned to corner.
Two minutes later, Birkirkara took the lead when from a Jake Grech cornerkick, Cain Attard found the net from an angle.
On the 22nd minute, Kurt Zammit crossed into the area but Guillaumier hit well over the bar.
Six minutes later, a Ferreira header was excellently turned to corner by Perger.
Both Mifsud and Franca missed a couple of occasions each and at the interval, Birkirkara were sitting on just a one goal cushion.
Soon after the start of the second half, in a swift B’Kara counter attack, Paul Fenech found Jake Grech in the Senglea area, but goalie Perger covered himself with glory as he blocked the shot.
A minute later, however, he could do nothing to stop the same Grech from finding the net off a Franca perfect cross.
In the 71st minute, Jake Grech tried to set the unmarked Mifsud in the Senglea area, but the pass went astray.
In the 76th minute, from a Grech cornerkick, it was France who had a header punched away by an alert Perger, definitely Senglea’s best player.
Just before the end, Senglea were denied a consolation goal when Naumovski turned to corner a shot by Caseres.